Apparatus for cleaning dust from shoes



F H. BROWN APPARATUS FOR CLEANING DUS'I FROM SHOES Filed Oct.'19, 1939 r Oct. 7, 1941.

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or contour of the leather. erations produce a fine dust which adheres close- Patented Oct. 7, 1941 UNITED STATES FATE JNTIQO'FFICE v APPARATUS FOR CLEANING DUST FROM SHOES 7 1 Fred H. Brown, Beverly, Mass, assignor to United Shoe Machinery CorporatiomBorough of Flemington, N. J.

Jersey a corporation of New Application "October 19, 1939, Serial No. 390,152

'3 Claims.

This invention relates to an apparatus for cleaning dust from shoes. In the manufacture and also in 'the repair of shoes various portions of a shoe 'are secured, buffed, or otherwise abraded to improve the surface characteristics These abrading oply to the surface of the leather and which must be removed before waxing, polishing, or other finishing operations may be performed.- This dust is usually removed by brushing.

It is an object of the invention to provide an apparatus which not only enables dust to be removed from a shoe quickly and conveniently but which also disposes of the dust and prevents it from escaping into the atmosphere. Such apparatus, as illustrated herein, comprises a cabinet of a size considerably greater than sufficient to contain a shoe to be cleaned, and having an opening for the insertion of the shoe and also an outlet for connection to a suction system, in combination with an air nozzle directed to blow a jet of air upon the shoe within the cabinet. The above-mentioned opening serves also as an inlet for the air drawn in by the suction system, and as shown herein, is smaller in area than a cross section of the cabinet rearwardly of it.

The velocity of the air entering through this constricted opening is relatively great and is sufficient to prevent dust from being blown back into the room. The air nozzle of the illustrated apparatus is directed downwardly and rearwardly in the general direction of the suction opening.

These and other features of the invention comprising various combinations and arrangements of parts will be best understood from the following description of a preferred embodiment shown in the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the improved apparatus; and

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the upper portion of the apparatus.

The supporting structure of the apparatus disclosed herein consists of a standard In adapted to rest upon the floor and carrying at its upper portion a bracket ll upon which is secured a cabinet l2 having a top wall l4, a bottom wall IS, a rear wall IS, a pair of parallel side walls 20 one of which appears in Fig. 1, and a front wall 22. The bottom wall l6 slopes, and its lateral edges converge, downwardly and rearwardly, the lateral edges of the bottom wall being connected to the side walls 20 by sloping walls 23. Extending from the rear wall l8 at a locality below the level of the forward edge of the bottom wall l6 and adapted for connection to'a suction system is an outlet 2t which communicates with the interior of the. cabinet through a circular opening in the rear wall. The cabinet l2 is of a size considerably greater than suflicient to contain a shoe to be cleaned, and is composed of sheet metal, except for the front wall 22 which is composed of flexible rubber and which has formed in it an opening 26 just large enough to enable a shoe to be inserted therethrough and to be moved in various positions by the operator. Itwill be. observed that the front wall 22, as shownin Fig. 1 is not vertical but slopes upwardly and rearwardly. The purpose of this inclination is to provide greater visibility through the opening 26 from the position of the operator. Within th cabinet l2 and at the center of the upper forward portion thereof is an air nozzle 28 directed to blow a jet of air rearwardly and downwardly and in the general direction of the outlet 24. Also within the cabinet l2 and at a level below that of the nozzle 28 are a pair of nozzles 16 positioned close to the front wall 22 and to the side walls 20 respectively. The nozzles 16 are directed rearwardly and in converging relation to each other and to the nozzle 28. Air under pressure is supplied to the nozzles 28 and 76 through a pipe 30 under control of a valve 32 which may be opened by depression of a treadle 34 through a spring 36 connected at one end to an operating lever 38 of the valve 32 and at its other end through a chain 38 to the treadle 34. Another spring 40 interposed between the upper end of the chain 38 and a bracket 42 secured to the bracket ll normally holds the treadle 34 up and holds the valve 32 closed. The pipe 30 supports the nozzles 28 and 16 in definite positions within the cabinet.

In using the apparatus the operator inserts a shoe by hand either wholly or partially through the opening 26 and depresses the treadle 34 to release jets of air against the shoe, manipulating the shoe as may be required to remove dust from all abraded surfaces thereof. The opening 26 is just large enough to admit insertion of the shoe while held by the operator and to enable the shoe to be manipulated conveniently. Engagement with the edge of the opening 26 will not interfere with manipulation of the shoe and will not damage the shoe because of the flexible nature of the rubber wall 22. In case any jet after striking the work piece should be reflected in such a manner as to cause forward currents of air along the sides and bottom of the cabinet, the wall 22 will intercept such currents and prevent them from carrying into the room not only dust from the work piece but also any dust which may have been deposited on the walls of the cabinet.

It will be observed that in the cabinet described above the cross sectional area increases progressively from the front to the rear and that the velocity of the air induced by the suction at the outlet will be stronger at the entrance to the cabinet than at any other locality, thus assuring against any likelihood of dust being blown back into the room. The downward slope of the lower portion of the cabinet tends to insure dissipation of the downwardly directed air jets and also deflection of the jets toward the suction outlet. The space within the cabinet is considerably greater than sufficient to contain a shoe to be cleaned, and the area of the entrance is less than the cross sectional area of the cabinet rearwardly of the entrance. The velocity of the incoming air will therefore be relatively great, especially when the entrance is further constricted by a portion of the introduced article and by the operators hands, and this constriction will be sufficient to overcome any forwardly directed draft which the incoming air may encounter within the cabinet.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. An apparatus for cleaning dust from shoes, comprising a cabinet having top, bottom, side, and. back walls, said bottom wall sloping downwardly and rearwardly to the back wall, said cabinet having also at its rear lower portion an outlet for connection to a suction system, an air nozzle directed downwardly and rearwardly to blow dust from a shoe within the cabinet toward said outlet, and means for supporting said nozzle in a position adjacent to the forward edge of said upper wall.

2. An apparatus for cleaning dust from shoes, comprising a cabinet having a front wall in Y which is formed an opening for the insertion of a shoe to be cleaned and having also an outlet in its rear portion for connection to a, suction system, and a plurality of air nozzles within the forward portion of the cabinet for blowing converging jets' of air rearwardly upon the shoe within the cabinet to remove the dust therefrom.

3. An apparatus for cleaning dust from shoes, comprising a cabinet having top, bottom, side, front, and back walls, said bottom wall sloping downwardly and rearwardly to said back wall, said front wall being disposed in a plane which slopes upwardly and rearwardly and being composed .of flexiblematerial in which is formed an opening for the insertion of a shoe to be cleaned, said cabinet having also at its rear lower portion an outlet for connection to a suction system, and an air nozzle positioned adjacent to the forward edge of said upper wall and directed downwardly and rearwardly to blow dust from a shoe within the cabinet toward said outlet.

FRED H. BROWN. 

